Garment shield and method of making the same



Feb. 14, 1933. J. G. DUPONT 1,897,952

GARMENT SHIELD AND METHOD OF' MAKING THE SAME Filed Nov. 2, 1951 Patented Feb. 14, 1933 UNITED STATE/S PATENT oFFlcE JmN e. DUPONT, or NEW YORK, N. Y., AssIaNoIel oF ONE-THIRD To HENRY J. LUCKE,

or NEW Yoan, N. Y.

Application led November 2, 1931. Serial No. 572,633.

My present invention relates to garment shields and more particularly to an lmproved garment shield and method of making the same. f

'5 Formerly, garment shields were made almost exclusively of fabric or a combination of fabric and thin sheet rubber, it being necessary with such materials to fabricate the same from shapes cut to size and V'oined together by sewing or by cement. uch garment shields were relatively expensive and to keep the same in sanitary condition, it was necessary frequently to subject them to washing or cleansing processes. S'uch washing or cleansing processes very quickly destroyed the shields and lately it has been attempted to make garment shields out of fibrous material such as paper, but in such cases also, it has been necessary, in order to obtain the desired shape, to fabricate the same out of sections cut to a specified size and join the same preferably by sewing as it was found that the use of adhesives was not satisfactory and was not sanitary. The sewed edge,

v in addition, made a rough wearing edge which was objectionable and such garment shields have not gone into extensive use.

In my resent invention, I have obviated the objections of all prior structures of this kind and have devised a new form of garment shield and an improved method of making the same, whereby I am enabled to fabricate a garment shield out of a single unitary sheet of stretchable and absorbent material, such for example as crepe paper, and in practicing my invention, I form the stretchable and absorbent material into a permanent form which for shipping purposes will lie flat and which will, becausevof the character of the material and the method of manufacture em ployed, afford a greater absorbing quality than is present in any other form of gaent shield.

An object of my invention therefore is an improved one-piece garment shield.

Another object of my invention is an improved method of making the garment shield of stretchable and absorbent material.

50 In the accompanying drawing illustrating preferred embodiments of my invention and illustrating the various steps in the process of manufacture,

Fig. 1 is a blank from which the garment shield is made;

Fig. 2 illustrates the rst step in the process;

Fig. 3 illustrates the second step in the process;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a completed garment shield;

ig. 5 is a sectional elevation on line 5 5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 illustrates the use of a arment shield of my invention applied to t e upper portion of the body of a wearer;

Fig. 7 illustrates the use of a garment shield of my invention applied to the nether portion of a wearer; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view similar to Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates a blank of stretchable and distortable material, preferably crepe paper, of any desiredsize and which, in the method of manufacture, is first folded diametrically and preferably along the minor axis l1, this operation .producing the article shown in Fig. 2, composed of two substantially semi-circular members 13 and 14, but one of which, 13, is visible in this figure. In this Fig. 2, the dot-and-dash line 12 designates the reentrant side of the crescent shaped resulting structure to be produced. The next step in the process is folding the material along the dot-and-dash line 12, and in performing this step, I simultaneously displace or distort the material while applying pressure, the distortion and displacing taking place almost entirely in that portion of material shown in Fig. 2 lying between the curved dot-and-dash line l2 and the upper edge of the material, this latter op.- eration resulting in a finished garment shield as shown in Fig. 3 where the distortion and displacement of the material of the strip be- 95 tween the dot-anddash line 12 of Fig. 2 and the upper edge is illustrated by the radially disposed shading of Fig. 3. By simultaneously distorting and applying pressure to the material, the parallelly arranged layers 100 of the folded portion, as shown in Fig. 5 and designated by the numeral 15, lie adjacent to one of the crescent shaped portions or sides of the shield. These arallel layers 15 not only assist in having t e arment shield retain its shape, but also, as 1s evident, provide a plurality of layers of absorbentl material which impart to the garment shield greater absorbent qualities than is found in any other garment shield of which I am aware.

The shield, when in use, is preferably so arranged as to havethe parallel layers 15 lie adjacent to the body, as shown in Fig. 6, as vit is then in the most advantageous position, as not only does most of the pers iration come from the body of the wearer, ut when the garment to which the shield is attached, is not in use, the shield will be in a better position to more thoroughly dry out and air.` The position of the shield however, with respect to the body of the wearer, is obviously a matter of choice and does not affect the eicacy of the device. In Fig. 7 the device is shown applied to the nether portion of the body of the wearer.

In the modification shown in Fig. 8 and to obtain greater absorbing qualities than in a single ply garment shield, I may utilize a number of blanks 10, which increases the absorbent quality in the, sides of the garment shield and also increases the absorbent qualities of the folds 15.

In a garment shield made of fibrous material that is distortable, such for example as crepe paper, no attempt is made to remove the results of perspiration because of the cheapness of the resulting article and for this reason, my improved garment shield has displaced most of the former types of garment shields now on the market. While I prefer to utilize crepe paper because of its absorbent qualities as compared with its bulk, it is obvious that I may utilize any absorbent material that is distorable and which may be formed by my improved method into a garment shield of the type illustrated.

As illustrated in the drawing, it is convenient to blank the original 10 of a general oval contour, and thereby impart a. generally crescent shape, i. e. semi-oval, contour to the resulting shield. However, any other contour may be utilized initially and in the final product. Accordingly, the term oval as defined in the claims includes generally any suitable contour, as well as the geometric oval contour in particular; and correspondingly, the term crescent shape includes the half of such initial general contour as well as the geometric crescent shape.

It will also be apparent that the low cost of production, including material and process costs, and the reduced bulk per any given uantity of the shields, and consequent reduced cost of packaging and of shipment by reason of the substantial flatness of the shields, the cost of the shield to the ultimate consumer is reduced to such a low range to permit the shield to be thrown awa after sin le or short periods of use, particu arly in their use for the display, including trying-on of garments, thereby definitely contributing a sanitary advantage to the users and to the trade generally.

Whereas I have described my invention by reference to specific forms thereof, it will be understood that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. That improved method of making garment shields of distortable absorbent material which consists in preparing an initial blank of generally oval configuration, folding the oval blank upon itself initially diametrically, and refolding the diametrical edge portion upon itself, and dis lacing the distortable material thereat to e ect a final curvature and substantial smoothness at the resulting curved edge and flatness of the doubled-over fold.

2. That improved method of making garment shields of distortable absorbent material which consists in preparing an initial blank of generally oval configuration, folding an oval blank upon itself initially diametrically while exercising pressure, and refolding the diametrical edge portion u on itself while exercising pressure, and dis Ewing the distortable material thereat to e ect a final curvature and substantial smoothness at the resulting curved edge and flatness of the doubled-over fold.

3. That improved method of making garment shields of distortable absorbent material which consists in preparing an initial blank of generally oval coni ration, folding an oval blank upon itsel initially diametrically along its minor axis while exercising pressure, and refolding the diametrical edge portion upon itself, and displacing the distortable material thereat while exercising pressure to effect a final curvature and substantial smoothness at the resulting curved edge and flatness of the doubled-over fold.

4. That improved method of making garment shields of distortable absorbent material which consists -in preparing an initialblank of generally oval configuration, folding the oval blan upon itself initially diametrically, and refolding the diametrical edge portion upon itself, and simultaneously displacing the distortable material thereat to effect a final curvature and substantial smoothness at the resulting curved edge and flatness of the doubled-over fold.

5. An improved one piece garment shield los nently distorted crepe paper, whereby the shape of the shield is permanently maintained.

6. An improved one piece garment shield of crepe paper or the like comprising a pair of crescent shaped segments and means formed integral therewith for positioning the segments parallel to each other and comprising a pair of crescent shaped segments permanently shaped and lying adjacent to one of the pair of crescent shaped segments.

7. An improved one piece garment shield comprising a pair of crescent shaped segments, and a. joining member formed integral therewith for joining such segments together at the reentrant portion thereof, said member comprising a double fold of permanently distorted material, whereby the shape of the shield is permanently maintained.

8. An improved garment shield comprising a pair of crescent shaped segments and means formed integral therewith for positioning the segments in proper relation to each other and comprising a pair of crescent shaped segments permanently shaped and lying adjacent to the outer face of one of the pair of crescent shaped segments.

9. An improved garment shield comprising a pair of crescent shaped segment of absorbent material, and a joining member integral therewith for oining such segments together at the reentrant portion thereof, said member comprising a double fold of permanently distortable absorbent material, whereby the shape of the shield is permanently maintained.

l0. An improved garment shield comprising a pair of crescent shaped segments of absorbent material and means formed integral therewith for positioning the segments in proper relation to each other'and comprising a pair of crescent shaped segments of absorbent material permanently shaped and lying adjacent to the outer face of one of the pair of crescent shaped segments.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification this 7th day of Oct., 1931.

JEAN G. DUPONT. 

